Malaysia's Rhingle goes live in Indonesia, tapping local talent for regional ambitions

Rhingle, a Malaysia-based marketing agency with growing reach across Southeast Asia, has officially launched operations in Indonesia, naming Jakarta as its latest market entry after prior expansions into Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The company currently works with several global tech brands, including some of the top players worldwide. For CEO Daryl Yeap (pictured), this expansion into Indonesia has been a long time coming.

“Being married to an Indonesian, I’ve long admired the creative talent and energy in the market whenever I visited,” Yeap told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. “Combine that with Indonesia’s massive population and growing digital economy, we can see that it’s an exciting place to do business.”

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The agency began setting up in Indonesia as far back as 2021, but delays - mostly administrative - pushed the timeline. Rhingle now enters the country with a hybrid model that leans on its Kuala Lumpur headquarters for creative execution while local teams focus on strategy, logistics, and eventually, homegrown creative work.

Bringing on a local lead

Rhingle’s Indonesian operations will be led by Bemmy Alivia Arfidi, a solo operator for now, but one whom Yeap believes is pivotal to making the model work.

“From our past expansion efforts, we’ve learned that the success of a new market hinges heavily on the person leading it,” Yeap explained. “Bemmy ticked all those boxes. He came in with a clear understanding of the Indonesian landscape and ideas of how we could optimise our launch with what we already had. What set him apart was not only his ability to plan, but his willingness to get his hands dirty.”

The decision to operate with a lean structure from day one ties into Rhingle’s broader hybrid approach - a model designed to maximise regional scale while gradually embedding local expertise.

“Our hybrid model allows us to tap into the strength and experience of our Malaysia HQ while expanding into new markets with lean, focused teams,” said Yeap. “It provides us with scale without sacrificing quality.”

That said, local creative talent is central to Rhingle’s long-term plans in Indonesia.

“Our vision for the creative hub is to harness the creative talent Indonesia has to offer. Not just for local campaigns, but for the region as well,” Yeap said. “We want to showcase Indonesian creative work on a regional stage and create a space where talent can grow through cross-market collaboration.”

Understanding the Indonesian edge

Indonesia, with over 270 million people, presents a vastly different challenge compared to Rhingle’s other Southeast Asian markets.

“Campaigns need to reach and resonate with a much broader, more diverse audience spread across multiple islands, cultures, and languages,” Yeap said.

In addition, the agency sees Indonesian digital behaviours as both dynamic and distinctive. “Influencer-driven commerce is far more advanced than in some neighbouring markets,” Yeap noted, adding that emotional storytelling and local humour also hold greater weight in marketing effectiveness.

That makes localisation not just a matter of translation, but of deep cultural understanding - one of the reasons Rhingle is prioritising the hiring of on-ground execution and creative teams who are fluent in the “local lingo and mindset”.

Where Rhingle is headed

For now, Rhingle is focusing on supporting existing regional clients in tech - a sector the agency has deep experience with. But the FMCG space is high on Yeap’s personal wish list.

“One sector that I personally would love to go into and work with is the FMCG industry,” he said. “Working with a brand in the industry with the scale of the population Indonesia has to offer greatly excites me.”

Looking ahead, Yeap confirmed that the agency is actively hiring executional support for live activations and events, a major pillar of its operations. Once those roles are filled, the next phase will involve building out the creative team and bringing the vision of a cross-market creative hub to life.

Rhingle’s Indonesian play is not just about tapping a large market - it’s a bet on the country’s ability to shape ideas for the region. In Yeap’s words: “It would be an honour to highlight the talents of Indonesia for the region.”

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